Verizon Denies Home FireA day in the life of telco damage control ( old news - 09:16AM Tuesday Aug 14 2007) tags: business · install · Verizon Online DSLAs we mentioned last week, fires, explosions and burned fences are sometimes par for the course when it comes to some broadband installs. We also directed your attention to one Verizon customer who says the technician drilled through their electrical main causing a small home fire. A Verizon PR rep insisted to Network World that wasn't the case, while taking the time to pitch their triple play: "One of our new techs was installing a triple play at a Needham home (they're selling like hotcakes, btw). When drilling a hole for the Optical Network Terminal, he accidentally hit an electrical wire, knocking out power to the house. Our bad, but no smoke, and no fire. Out of an overabundance of caution (always a good thing) the local fire department was called. The FD cut a hole in [the] side of [the] house where the drilling took place to expose the area and check for a fire. There was none." But, according to a Network World follow-up, the local Deputy Fire Chief says there was, in fact, a fire, so it appears that someone, somewhere is blowing smoke.
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 |  | ender7074
join:2006-11-21
Saint Louis, MO
 ·AT&T Southeast
 ·Charter Pipeline
| Re: Why Lie? I would bet money that it's Verizon lying. No one else in this story benefits from a lie other than Verizon. Hell, even the FD said that there was a fire but VZ won't admit that. Most people would think twice about having someone install anything in my home if they were known to cause fires. I know that this is an isolated incident but lying about it only makes it worse when the truth comes to light. | |
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jjoshua
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ | It all depends on how you look at it After the fire department cut a hole in the wall and put out the fire, "there was no fire".
Does anything else require clarification? | |
| HyPeRbAnD
join:2006-01-07
Stow, MA | Look before you poke a hole in a house wall. I can't understand someone not checking the other side of the wall before he/she drilled. I guess it could have been a situation where you are drilling blind, but why take a chance. | |
| | 
matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY
edit:
August 14th, @02:36PM
| Re: Look before you poke a hole in a house wall. said by HyPeRbAnD  :I can't understand someone not checking the other side of the wall before he/she drilled. I guess it could have been a situation where you are drilling blind, but why take a chance. That's exactly what happened with my install. The technician was working alone and I offered to check the other side while he was drilling and he told me not to worry about it. I looked anyway, and his drill missed one of my electric lines by about 1/4" When he went in the basement I told him he came pretty close and his response was, "But I didn't hit it." I didn't think much of him after that. | |
| 
i5050MbSoon
Formerly TwoKDialup
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI
edit:
August 14th, @09:30AM
| Cut 'em some slack Installers are only human so they'll make occasional mistakes. If they were perfect, they'd be in management.
--
Meet Bill and Karolyn at www.theslowskys.com | |
| | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Cut 'em some slack The problem is that a mistake was made and now they (Verizon) is trying to get out of paying for their mistake. Everyone knows mistakes happens but the issue is why won't Verizon fix this?
Instead of spending a couple thousand dollars on a repair, they will spend tens of thousands defending a lawsuit they have no business fighting. | |
| | 
Vertickle
join:2003-08-05
Madison, AL
| said by i5050MbSoon :Installers are only human so they'll make occasional mistakes. If they were perfect, they'd be in management. Well said!  | |
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jjoshua
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ | Just the opposite... The bad installer will be promoted to management.
Why promote a good installer? | |
| | | 
cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Cut 'em some slack That's basically the theory behind the Dilbert Principal. The Dilbert Principal states that companies tend to systematically promote their least-competent employees to management (generally middle management), in order to limit the amount of damage that they're capable of doing. | |
| | HyPeRbAnD
join:2006-01-07
Stow, MA
| said by i5050MbSoon : If they were perfect, they'd be in management. LOL -- Yeah I know they are human. | |
| | 
ncb1959
join:2001-11-20
Indianapolis, IN
| said by i5050MbSoon :Installers are only human so they'll make occasional mistakes. If they were perfect, they'd be in management. Nope. They'd be customers. | |
| Modworks
join:2007-02-16
USA | insurance ? I'm pretty sure companies like this have insurance on workers that would cover any damage to property done by the installer.
If not they would see me in court  | |
| | sbcretired
join:2006-01-07
Scottville, MI | Re: insurance ? Ah, but the big boys dont pay premiums, they are SELF INSURED! | |
| birdfeedr
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
·Verizon FIOS
| Were you there? It's fairly certain Bonomo, Verizon's PR rep, was not there. He says "according to the Verizon staffers" there was no fire.
It's not clear that DeIulio, deputy fire chief, was on the scene either. He said it was minor. You know they don't always show up at those.
The reporter goes back to the deputy fire chief who says "If there’s flames, there’s fire." One sentence quoted, devoid of any preceding or afterwards.
Maybe DeIulio said, /rolling eyes/ "Why are you asking me about this again? Fire, schmire! We were called, we showed up."
"Was there a fire?"
"If there's flames, there's fire."
DeIulio was never quoted as saying "Yes."
Not a Fios fanboy, but I can't stand so much nonsense about imprecise comments made by people who were not, or may not have been there. | |
| | bmn
? ? ?
Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus
 ·Packet8
·Cox HSI
| Re: Were you there? DeIulio, the fire chief, would merely be reporting what the responding fire squad reported back to them. There's no agenda there.
Bonomo, on the other hand, would be doing damage control for something that was caused by them. Clearly an agenda there.
--
Prove it...
Save the Internet Time (NTP) service, use the pool. | |
| | | 
tshirt
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
edit:
August 14th, @12:56PM
| verizon becoming the next axis of evil? McNamera has an axe to grind or more likely magazines to sell
"I had promised myself to leave Verizon alone today - honestly, it was an actual conscious thought -......"
If his first thought is how to GET verizon today (enough so he consciously needs to resist that impulse), he's hardly an unbiased reporter.
If you read the story, it's links, and the updates, it's more than a little spin, trying to make a big story out of a minor event.
Most of the story is references to other stories in other "anti-verizon" publications, some of which link back to this story.
Yes, the installer made an error, fire dept. was called, problem handled.
The house was not "set ablaze", at most a short/arc/minor fire.
The tech does need additional training, maybe to use an AC sensor BEFORE drilling.
To have a Verizon PR wonk try a spin it the other way isn't surprising either.
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| | okie11
join:2003-11-20
·Charter Pipeline
| Re: verizon becoming the next axis of evil? the story wasn't first reported by him though, it was reported from the town news paper that he had seen and then did a story on the story.
so it doesn't matter that he's not a fan of verizon, he's a reporter who's reporting about a company he dislikes. | |
| | | birdfeedr
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: verizon becoming the next axis of evil? said by okie11 :the story wasn't first reported by him though, it was reported from the town news paper that he had seen and then did a story on the story. so it doesn't matter that he's not a fan of verizon, he's a reporter who's reporting about a company he dislikes. Sorry to burst your bubble, but blogging is NOT reporting.
Supposedly, somewhere in there, is a professional reporter engaging in journalism. You can tell, because he went back to verify the facts. How well he reported them is the subject of a different discussion.
The blogger has the axe to grind. He's spinning as much as the Verizon PR flack.
But that's the beauty of the internet... so many self-published authors with a large audience.
That's why your future internet driver's license will require a written test for skepticism. | |
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tshirt
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
| Re: verizon becoming the next axis of evil? so blogger =journalist with no integrity?
sadly you may be right, even some professional "news" people have lost sight of their important role and responsibility in a free society.
I just doubted the story due to the inconstancy's.
My title more referred to the change in attitude at BBR
6-12 months ago Verizon, specifically FIOS could do no wrong.
The year before Google was god, before that MS and even AOL commanded respect as drivers of the internet/digital age.
Eventually all of them are exposed as false gods, merely competitors for the (formerly) all mighty buck. | |
| sonet192
join:2005-03-19
Copiague, NY
| Who cares? Some years ago a Cablevision installer was drilling into my basement to run coax into the house. I was sitting in my living room and in came his drill through the living room wall. I went outside and indicated where the basement was, "...uhh..lower" and he completed the job. I spackled the drywall and patched the siding. Not a big deal. Sure it irked me but bottom line...can anyone name a company that does installs that this kind of thing hasn't happened to? | |
| | 
sea93
join:2001-11-01
River Grove, IL | Re: Who cares? I had them (dish people) actually drill through the wall into the TV sitting on the floor, just inside the wall. Only case damage that day. | |
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